[0001] The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus and a method of performing
error notification and error recovery functions in an image forming apparatus.
[0002] Image forming apparatuses can be, for example, office automation equipment, such
as printers, copy machines, scanners, and facsimile machines, which perform at least
one function of printing, copying, scanning, and sending a fax. Recently, a multi-function
product (MFP) in which functions performed by office automation equipment, such as
a printer, a scanner, a copy machine, and a facsimile machine, are combined into one
machine is being widely supplied. Since several functions of printing, copying, scanning,
and sending a fax are combined in the MFP, if an error is generated in any function,
other functions of the MFP cannot be used. Accordingly, it is important to quickly
resolve the error and maintain a normal state.
[0003] The present disclosure provides an image forming apparatus and a method of performing
error notification and error recovery functions in an image forming apparatus.
[0004] Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description which follows and,
in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the
presented embodiments.
[0005] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there may be provided a method
of performing error notification and error recovery functions in an image forming
apparatus, the method possibly including: detecting an error of a main processor for
controlling sub-processors, in at least one of the sub-processors each controlling
one or more units included in the image forming apparatus; if the error is detected,
controlling a function of receiving data about a printing operation from outside the
image forming apparatus; outputting information about the detected error; and recovering
the detected error by controlling an operation of the main processor.
[0006] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer
readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for executing the method.
[0007] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there may be provided an image
forming apparatus having error notification and error recovery functions, the image
forming apparatus possibly including: a plurality of sub-processors for each controlling
one or more unit included in the image forming apparatus; and a main processor for
controlling the plurality of sub-processors, wherein at least one of the plurality
of sub-processors may include: an error detector for detecting an error generated
in the main processor; an interface controller for controlling a function of receiving
data about a printing operation from outside the image forming apparatus, if the error
is detected; an error notification unit for outputting information about the detected
error; and an error recovery unit for recovering the detected error by controlling
an operation of the main processor.
[0008] One or more features of the invention are optional, for example, controlling a function
of receiving data relating to an operation from outside the image forming apparatus
when the error is detected, outputting information relating to the detected error
and/or recovering the detected error by controlling an operation of the main processor.
[0009] These and/or other aspects and advantages will become apparent and more readily appreciated
from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings of which:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment
of the present disclosure;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating in detail a user interface unit and a main
board, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating data packets transmitted and received between
a user interface unit and a main processor according to a predetermined protocol;
FIG. 3C is a diagram illustrating a data packet including an error message, according
to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating logs stored in a hard disk drive (HDD),
according to embodiments of the present disclosure; and
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of performing error notification and error
recovery functions in an image forming apparatus, according to an embodiment of the
present disclosure.
[0010] The present disclosure will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are shown.
[0011] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image forming apparatus 1 according to an embodiment
of the present. Referring to FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 may include a user
interface unit 10, a main board 20, an engine unit 30, a scan unit 40, a facsimile
unit 50, and a copy unit 60. The user interface unit 10 may include a user interface
(UI) processor 100, and the main board 20 may include a main processor 200, a network
interface unit 210, and a hard disk drive (HDD) 220. FIG. 1 only shows hardware components
related to the current embodiment so as to prevent characteristics of the current
embodiment from being blurred. However, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill
in the art that the image forming apparatus 1, the user interface unit 10, or the
main board 20 according to the current embodiment may include other general-use hardware
components in addition to those shown in FIG. 1.
[0012] The image forming apparatus 1 may correspond to an individual apparatus, such as
a printer, a scanner, or a facsimile machine, or a multi-function product (MFP) in
which functions of copying, printing, scanning, transmitting and receiving a fax,
transmitting an email, etc. are performed. For convenience of description, the image
forming apparatus is an MFP, but the current embodiment is not limited thereto.
[0013] Referring to FIG. 1, a state of the image forming apparatus 1 may be managed by a
manager 3 or a remote management server 4. Here, the manager 3 may manage the state
of the image forming apparatus 1 by using a terminal device, such as a computer or
a portable terminal, connected to the network interface unit 210 via a network. Alternatively,
the manager 3 may manage the state of the image forming apparatus 1 by connecting
to the remote management server 4.
[0014] For example, the manager 3 or the remote management server 4 may manage the state
of the image forming apparatus 1 by using a printing account solution. The printing
account solution may be a solution of collecting operation information of the current
image forming apparatus 1, such as a printer or an MFP, by connecting to the image
forming apparatus 1 via a network.
[0015] The printing account solution may analyze the collected operation information to
determine whether the image forming apparatus 1 is operating normally or determine
whether an error, if generated, is to be urgently processed and an action is to be
taken to process the error. In other words, if an error is generated in the image
forming apparatus 1, the printing account solution may determine whether the error
needs to be recovered by using the manager 3 or the remote management server 4. That
is, the printing account solution may be a solution of continuously managing the image
forming apparatus 1 by analyzing an operation state of the image forming apparatus
1 in real-time.
[0016] Specifically, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the current embodiment may
include, as well as the main board 20, other boards, such as the user interface unit
10, the engine unit 30, the scan unit 40, the facsimile unit 50, and a copy unit 60,
included in the image forming apparatus 1.
[0017] In detail, the user interface unit 10 may control a user interface function for a
user 2 to manipulate the image forming apparatus 1. The engine unit 30 may control
a function, such as a printing engine, included in the image forming apparatus 1.
The scan unit 40 may control a scanner function of the image forming apparatus 1,
which may generate an image file by scanning a document. The facsimile unit 50 may
control a facsimile function of the image forming apparatus 1, which may generate
an image by using facsimile data received from outside the image forming apparatus
1. The copy unit 60 may control a copy function of the image forming apparatus 1,
which may generate a copy image of a document to be copied and may output the copy
image.
[0018] The main board 20 may control other boards, such as the user interface unit 10, the
engine unit 30, the scan unit 40, the facsimile unit 50, and the copy unit 60. In
other words, the main board 20 may generate an image to be printed by the image forming
apparatus 1 while also possibly playing a pivotal role for controlling an entire system
of the image forming apparatus 1. Specifically, as described above, the network interface
unit 210 including a wired/wireless network interface card, and the HDD 220 may be
installed in the main board 20.
[0019] The main board 20 according to the current embodiment may include the main processor
200 possibly controlling an operation of the main board 20. Also, the user interface
unit 10 may include the UI processor 100 possibly controlling a user interfacing operation
of the user interface unit 10. Similarly, other boards, such as the engine unit 30,
the scan unit 40, the facsimile unit 50, and the copy unit 60, also respectively may
include sub-processors, such as the UI processor 100, but the sub-processors are not
shown in FIG. 1 for convenience of description.
[0020] The main processor 200 may communicate with the sub-processors to transmit a control
command of the main processor 200 to the sub-processors, and the sub-processors may
be controlled by the control command to control functions of each unit. As such, overall
operations and functions of the image forming apparatus 1 may be performed.
[0021] A general main processor may detect an error by checking a state of each unit, and
if an error is generated in a function of each unit, the general main processor may
notify the error to a user, a manager, or a remote management server, and may recover
the error according to a recovery command. However, if an error is generated in the
general main processor, a function of notifying or recovering the error may not be
performed, and thus an entire function of an image forming apparatus may not be performed.
Specifically, if a user transmits print data to the image forming apparatus, the image
forming apparatus having the error may not process the print data, and thus the print
data of the user may be lost.
[0022] However, in the image forming apparatus 1 according to the current embodiment, even
if an error is generated in the main processor 200 or the main board 20, the sub-processors
included in other units may detect, notify, and recover the error of the main processor
200 or the main board 20. Operations and functions of a sub-processor processing the
error of the main processor 200 or the main board 20 will now be described in detail.
For convenience of description, only the UI processor 100 included in the user interface
unit 10 is described from among the sub-processors included in the image forming apparatus
1, but it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the following
description may apply to other units, e.g. the sub-processors included in the engine
unit 30, the scan unit 40, the facsimile unit 50, and the copy unit 60.
[0023] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating in detail the user interface unit 10 and the
main board 20, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to
FIG. 2, the user interface unit 10 may include the UI processor 100, which is one
of the sub-processors. The UI processor 100 may include an error detector 1001, an
interface controller 1002, an error notification unit 1003, and an error recovery
unit 1004.
[0024] Here, the UI processor 100 and the main processor 200 may each be realized in an
array of a plurality of logic gates, or a general-use micro-processor. In other words,
it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the UI processor 100
and the main processor 200 may be realized in any form of hardware. Also, only components
related to the current embodiment are shown in FIG. 2 to prevent characteristics of
the current embodiment from being blurred. However, it would be obvious to one of
ordinary skill in the art that the user interface unit 10, the main board 20, and
the UI processor 100 may include other general-use hardware components, as well as
those shown in FIG. 2.
[0025] The error detector 1001 may detect an error generated in the main processor 200.
Upon communicating with the main processor 200 in a predetermined protocol, the error
detector 1001 may determine that an error may be generated if the main processor 200
does not respond for a predetermined time. Alternatively, the error detector 1001
may determine that an error may be generated if data including an error message is
transmitted from the main processor 200.
[0026] Generally, the main processor 200 and the UI processor 100 may communicate with each
other by transmitting and receiving data according to a predetermined protocol. In
other words, the main processor 200 may transmit an operation command to the UI processor
100, and the UI processor 100 may transmit back a process result of the operation
command to the main processor 200. Since such a process is well known to one of ordinary
skill in the art, details thereof are not described herein.
[0027] FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating data packets transmitted and received between
the user interface unit 10 and the main processor 200 according to a predetermined
protocol.
[0028] Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the main processor 200 may transmit a data packet including
data about an operation to be performed by the user interface unit 10 according to
a predetermined protocol, and the UI processor 100 may analyze the data packet to
control an operation of the user interface unit 10.
[0029] FIG. 3C is a diagram illustrating a data packet including an error message, according
to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 3C, the error detector
1001 may receive a data packet including information about an error type and an error
code from the main processor 200, and upon receiving the data packet the error detector
1001 may determine that an error may be generated in the main processor 200. However,
since a component such as the error detector 1001 may not be included in conventional
sub-processors, such as a UI processor, the sub-processors may not detect an error
even by receiving the data packet including information about an error type and an
error code from a main processor.
[0030] Here, unlike FIG. 3C, the error detector 1001 may determine that an error may be
generated if the main processor 200 does not respond for a predetermined time after
communicating with the main processor 200 in a predetermined protocol.
[0031] The types of data packets and the information illustrated in the data packets described
with reference to FIGS. 3A through 3C are only examples, and the embodiments are not
limited thereto.
[0032] Referring back to FIG. 2, the interface controller 1002 may control a function of
receiving data about a print operation from outside the image forming apparatus 1,
if an error is detected. In other words, the interface controller 1002 may control
at least one of the user interface unit 10 and the network interface unit 210. In
detail, the interface controller 1002 may deactivate at least one of a function of
receiving data about a print operation from the user 2 through the user interface
unit 10, and a function of receiving data about a print operation from an external
network connected to a personal computer (PC) or a laptop of the user 2 through the
network interface unit 210.
[0033] As described above, print data of the user may not be processed by a conventional
image forming apparatus and lost, since the user is not aware of an error generated
in the conventional image forming apparatus and continuously transmits the print data.
[0034] However, the interface controller 1002 may deactivate the function of the user interface
unit 10 if an error is detected, and thus may prevent the user 2 from performing the
print operation in the image forming apparatus 1 having the error through the user
interface unit 10. Alternatively, the interface controller 1002 may deactivate the
function of the network interface unit 210 if an error is detected, and thus may prevent
print data transmitted from the user 2 to the image forming apparatus 1 having the
error from not being processed.
[0035] The error notification unit 1003 may notify the error of the image forming apparatus
1 to the outside the image forming apparatus 1 by controlling at least one of the
user interface unit 10 and the network interface unit 210.
[0036] In other words, the error notification unit 1003 may output information about the
error to the user 2 by displaying the information through the user interface unit
10. Alternatively, the error notification unit 1003 may output the information by
transmitting the information to the external network through the network interface
unit 210. Here, the external network may denote a network connected to at least one
of a terminal device used by the user 2, a terminal network used by the manager 3,
and the remote management server 4.
[0037] According to an embodiment, the error notification unit 1003 may output the information
by preparing an email including the information and transmitting the email to the
external network, such as the terminal device of the user 2, the terminal device of
the manager 3, or the remote management server 4, through the network interface unit
210.
[0038] According to another embodiment, the error notification unit 1003 may output the
information by transmitting the information to the external network, such as the terminal
device of the user 2, the terminal device of the manager 3, or the remote management
server 4 by using a simple network management protocol (SNMP) trap method.
[0039] The error recovery unit 1004 may recover the error by controlling an operation of
the main processor 200.
[0040] During an operation of the image forming apparatus 1, the main processor 200 may
process operations about application programs about functions of the image forming
apparatus 1, and application programs based on an open architecture. For example,
the main processor 200 may perform various application programs, such as an engine
control application program, a user interface control application program, a network
interface control application program, an image forming control application program,
a scan data processing application program, an address book application program, and
a document box application program.
[0041] If an error is generated in at least one of such application programs performed by
the main processor 200, the error recovery unit 1004 may recover from the error by
controlling an operation of the main processor 200 to end and rerun the at least one
application program having the error. Alternatively, the error recovery unit 1004
may control an operation of the main processor 200 to reboot the main processor 200,
thereby recovering from the error. Alternatively, the error recovery unit 1004 may
recover from the error generated in the main processor 200 by using a well known method.
[0042] However, the error of the main processor 200 may in some circumstances not be recovered
even by an error recovery function of the error recovery unit 1004.
[0043] If the error is not recovered, the error recovery unit 1004 may store a log indicating
the information about the error in the HDD 220. The stored log may include information
about the overall system of the image forming apparatus 1, the information about the
error, etc.
[0044] FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating logs stored in the HDD 220, according to
embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0045] FIG. 4A illustrates an A level log of the image forming apparatus 1. Referring to
FIG. 4A, the A level log to be stored in the HDD 220 may include logs indicating where,
what, when, who, and how attributes about functions supported by the image forming
apparatus 1, such as printing, copying, scanning, and sending a fax.
[0046] FIG. 4B illustrates a B level log of the image forming apparatus 1. Referring to
FIG. 4B, the B level log to be stored in the HDD 220 may indicate internal design
information of software for realizing the functions supported by the image forming
apparatus 1, such as printing, copying, scanning, and sending a fax. In other words,
the B level log to be stored in the HDD 220 may include logs indicating information
about a sub job type, a job name, a time, and a count.
[0047] Referring back to FIG. 2, if the error is not recovered, the error recovery unit
1004 may store the logs indicating the information about the entire system of the
image forming apparatus 1, the information about the error, etc. in the HDD 220, so
as to provide the information about the error to the manager 3, the remote management
server 4, or an after service (AS) expert to determine and recover the error.
[0048] Here, the logs stored in the HDD 220 may be displayed through the user interface
unit 10 according to a request of the manager 3, the remote management server 4, or
the AS expert. Alternatively, the logs stored in the HDD 220 may be transmitted to
the external network through the network interface unit 210.
[0049] As described above, even if the error is generated in the main processor 200, the
sub-processors, such as the UI processor 100, included in the image forming apparatus
1 may detect and recover the error, and thus the image forming apparatus 1 may be
continuously used and managed. Also, by deactivating an interface function of the
image forming apparatus 1 having an error, the print data of the user 2 may not be
lost.
[0050] In the current embodiment, the UI processor 100 of the user interface unit 10 is
used, but it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the error of
the main processor 200 may be detected and recovered in the same manner by other processors
including the error detector 1001, the interface controller 1002, the error notification
unit 1003, and the error recovery unit 1004 of the UI processor 100.
[0051] FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of performing error notification and
error recovery functions in the image forming apparatus 1, according to an embodiment
of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 5, the method according to the current
embodiment may include operations that are performed in the image forming apparatus
i, the user interface unit 10, and the main board 20 of FIGS. 1 and 2, in time series.
Thus, descriptions about FIGS. 1 and 2 are applied to the method even if they are
omitted.
[0052] In operation S501, the error detector 1001 may detect an error of the main processor
200.
[0053] In operation S502, if the error is detected, the interface controller 1002 may control
the function of receiving data about the print operation from outside the image forming
apparatus 1.
[0054] In operation S503, the error notification unit 1003 may output the information about
the detected error.
[0055] In operation 504, the error recovery unit 1004 may recover the detected error by
controlling an operation of the main processor 200.
[0056] According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, even if an error is generated
in the main processor of the image forming apparatus including a plurality of processors,
the error may be detected and recovered by controlling the sub-processors, and thus
the image forming apparatus may be continuously used and managed. Also, by deactivating
the interface function of the image forming apparatus having the error, the print
data of the user may not be lost. In other words, the convenience of the user may
be promoted by quickly determining and recovering the error.
[0057] The methods according to the above-described example embodiments may be recorded
in non-transitory computer-readable media including program instructions to implement
various operations embodied by a computer. The media may also include, alone or in
combination with the program instructions, data files, data structures, and the like.
The program instructions recorded on the media may be those specially designed and
constructed for the purposes of the example embodiments, or they may be of the kind
well-known and available to those having skill in the computer software arts. Examples
of non-transitory computer-readable media include magnetic media such as hard disks,
floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD ROM disks and DVDs; magneto-optical
media such as optical discs; and hardware devices that are specially configured to
store and perform program instructions, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access
memory (RAM), flash memory, and the like.
[0058] Examples of program instructions include both machine code, such as produced by a
compiler, and files containing higher level code that may be executed by the computer
using an interpreter. The described hardware devices may be configured to act as one
or more software modules in order to perform the operations of the above-described
example embodiments, or vice versa. Any one or more of the software modules described
herein may be executed by a dedicated processor unique to that unit or by a processor
common to one or more of the modules. The described methods may be executed on a general
purpose computer or processor or may be executed on a particular machine such as the
image processing apparatus described herein.
[0059] Although example embodiments have been shown and described, it would be appreciated
by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these example embodiments
without departing from the principles of the disclosure, the scope of which is defined
in the claims.
1. A method of performing error notification and error recovery functions in an image
forming apparatus, the method comprising:
detecting an error of a main processor for controlling a plurality of sub-processors,
the sub-processors each controlling units included in the image forming apparatus,
wherein the error is detected by at least one sub-processor among the plurality of
sub-processors; and
controlling a function of receiving data relating to an operation from outside the
image forming apparatus when the error is detected.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: outputting information relating to the
detected error; and/or
recovering the detected error by controlling an operation of the main processor.
3. The method of claim 1 or 2 wherein the at least one sub-processor is a sub-processor
that controls an operation of a user interface unit.
4. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the detecting comprises detecting
generation of the error when the main processor does not respond after the sub-processors
communicate with the main processor in a predetermined protocol.
5. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the controlling comprises deactivating
at least one of a function of receiving data about the printing operation from a user
through a user interface unit, and a function of receiving data about the printing
operation from an external network through a network interface unit, according to
control of the sub-processors.
6. The method of any one of the preceding claims comprising outputting the information
about the detected error by displaying information about the detected error through
a user interface unit according to control of the sub-processors.
7. The method of any one of the preceding claims comprising outputting information about
the detected error by transmitting the information to an external network through
a network interface unit according to control of the sub-processors, wherein the external
network is connected to at least one of a terminal device used by a user, a terminal
device used by a manager of the image forming apparatus, and a remote management server
for remotely managing the image forming apparatus.
8. The method of any one of the preceding claims comprising outputting the information
about the detected error by transmitting an email comprising the information to the
external server, or outputting the information about the detected error by transmitting
the information to the external network by using a simple network management protocol
(SNMP) trap method.
9. The method of any one of the preceding claims, comprising recovering the detected
error by ending and re-running a process in which the error is detected in the main
processor, according to control of the sub-processors.
10. The method of any one of the preceding claims, further comprising, if the detected
error is not recovered as a result of recovering, storing a log showing the information
about the detected error.
11. The method of claim 10, further comprising displaying the stored log through a user
interface unit, according to control of the sub-processors, and optionally, transmitting
the stored log to an external network through a network interface unit, according
to control of the sub-processors.
12. A non-transitory computer readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program
for executing the method of any one of claims 1 through 11.
13. An image forming apparatus having error notification and error recovery functions,
the image forming apparatus comprising:
a plurality of sub-processors each controlling units included in the image forming
apparatus; and
a main processor controlling the plurality of sub-processors,
wherein at least one of the plurality of sub-processors comprises:
an error detector detecting an error generated in the main processor;
an interface controller controlling a function of receiving data about a printing
operation from outside the image forming apparatus when the error is detected.
14. The image forming apparatus of claim 13 further comprising:
an error notification unit outputting information about the detected error;
and/or
an error recovery unit recovering the detected error by controlling an operation of
the main processor.
15. The image forming apparatus of claim 13 or 14, wherein the at least one of the plurality
of sub-processors comprises a sub-processor that controls an operation of a user interface
unit.
Amended claims in accordance with Rule 137(2) EPC.
1. A method of performing error notification and error recovery functions in an image
forming apparatus, the method comprising:
detecting an error of a main processor (200) controlling a plurality of sub-processors
(100), the sub-processors each controlling units (10) included in the image forming
apparatus, wherein the error is detected by a sub-processor (100) among the plurality
of sub-processors; and
the sub-processor (100) controlling a function of receiving data relating to an operation
from outside the image forming apparatus when the error is detected.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: outputting information relating to the
detected error; and/or
recovering the detected error by controlling an operation of the main processor.
3. The method of claim 1 or 2 wherein the sub-processor (100) controls an operation
of a user interface unit (10).
4. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the detecting comprises detecting
generation of the error when the main processor (200) does not respond in a pre-determined
time after the sub-processors (100) communicate with the main processor in a predetermined
protocol.
5. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the controlling comprises
deactivating at least one of a function of receiving data about the printing operation
from a user through a user interface unit (10), and a function of receiving data about
the printing operation from an external network through a network interface unit,
according to control of the sub-processor (100).
6. The method of any one of the preceding claims comprising outputting the information
about the detected error by displaying information about the detected error through
a user interface unit (10) according to control of the sub-processor.
7. The method of any one of the preceding claims comprising outputting information about
the detected error by transmitting the information to an external network through
a network interface unit (210) according to control of the sub-processor (100), wherein
the external network is connected to at least one of a terminal device used by a user,
a terminal device used by a manager of the image forming apparatus, and a remote management
server (4) for remotely managing the image forming apparatus.
8. The method of any one of the preceding claims comprising outputting the information
about the detected error by transmitting an email comprising the information to the
external server, or outputting the information about the detected error by transmitting
the information to the external network by using a simple network management protocol
(SNMP) trap method.
9. The method of any one of the preceding claims, comprising recovering the detected
error by ending and re-running a process in which the error is detected in the main
processor (200), according to control of the sub-processor (100).
10. The method of any one of the preceding claims, further comprising, if the detected
error is not recovered as a result of recovering, storing a log showing the information
about the detected error.
11. The method of claim 10, further comprising displaying the stored log through a user
interface unit, according to control of the sub-processors, and optionally, transmitting
the stored log to an external network through a network interface unit, according
to control of the sub-processor (100).
12. A non-transitory computer readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program
for executing the method of any one of claims 1 through 11.
13. An image forming apparatus (1) having error notification and error recovery functions,
the image forming apparatus comprising:
a plurality of sub-processors (100) each controlling units included in the image forming
apparatus; and
a main processor (200) controlling the plurality of sub-processors,
wherein a said sub-processor comprises:
an error detector (1001) detecting an error generated in the main processor;
an interface controller (1002)_controlling a function of receiving data about a printing
operation from outside the image forming apparatus when the error is detected.
14. The image forming apparatus of claim 13 further comprising:
an error notification unit (1003) outputting information about the detected error;
and/or
an error recovery unit (1004) recovering the detected error by controlling an operation
of the main processor.
15. The image forming apparatus of claim 13 or 14, wherein the sub-processor controls
an operation of a user interface unit.